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Harvest Loaf (Beet Bread)

Oh the signs of Fall! The temperature starts to cool, the hours of daylight shorten, and best of all, the leaves change to gorgeous bright colors! Well, most of that isn’t happening here in SoCal. We are still getting temps in the upper 80’s and 90’s, and guess what… palm trees don’t change colors! It’s tragic, I know. So in an attempt to bring some Fall color to my life, I headed to the store for some root veggies! Beets, to be specific! They made a beautiful crimson colored puree, and brought some life to an otherwise ordinary loaf of bread.

Great for any holiday table, but amazing for a breakfast sandwich! (See sandwich instructions at the end of the post!)

To start making the bread, peel the beets and dice them up. Add them with some milk and make the puree. Then work the beet puree into the dough, and knead till it’s nice and elastic, but still sticky.

Place the dough in bowl and cover to rise, till doubled in size… did I just make a rhyme?!

Divide the dough into two rounds and let it rise again before painting on the egg wash and baking.

Cool completely before slicing and enjoying!

Harvest Loaf (Beet Bread)

1 1/2 cups beet puree (2 large beets + 1/2 cup milk)

3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups bread flour

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast

1 egg + 1 tbsp water

dried rosemary, for sprinkling

“When making the beet puree, measure out the milk first, then add the diced beets to just over the 1 1/2 cup line. After blending, you’ll have the exact amount of puree you need with the correct texture.”

To make the beet puree, peel and dice 2 large or 2 1/2 medium sized beets. Puree them in a food processor or blender with a 1/2 cup milk. Set aside.

Combine the yeast and sugar with the warm water (110 degrees). Set aside for 5 minutes to proof. It should get nice and foamy.

In a stand mixer, combine the 2 cups all purpose flour, and 2 cups of the bread flour with the salt.

Then attach the dough hook and pour in the yeast mixture, beet puree and olive oil. Let it mix, adding the remaining 1/2 cup of bread flour, a tablespoon at a time, if needed till the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Continue to mix another couple minutes, or remove the dough and knead by hand. Try not to add too much extra flour. You want the dough to be a little on the sticky side.

Transfer the dough to a bowl, coated with non stick spray, and cover with a warm damp towel. Allow the dough to rise for about and hour or till doubled in size.

Remove the risen dough and cut into two equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball and place on a parchment lined baking sheet to rise again. This time, cover the dough with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non stick spray. Allow to rise for 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place a broiler pan on the bottom rack. Before baking the bread, whisk the egg and water together and paint the egg wash over the surface of each loaf. Sprinkle on the dried rosemary.

Place the bread on the rack above the broiler pan. Pour boiling water into the broiler pan and immediately shut the oven to keep the steam in. Bake for 30 minutes,

Completely cool the bread on a wire rack before slicing.

Beet Breakfast Sandwich

Save the leafy green tops of the beets. Rinse any sediment from the leaves and shake off the excess water. Roughly chop and set aside.

Cook a couple pieces of sliced cured pork jowl, or bacon, and set aside to drain on paper towels. Meanwhile chop another piece of jowl with some diced onion.

Add the chopped jowl and onion to the same skillet you cooked the sliced jowl in. (Keeping all the fat that rendered out.) Add some minced garlic and cook together till the onions are translucent. Then toss in the beet greens.

Cover the skillet and let the greens wilt down, and the jowl pieces crisp up.